BHE News Feed

Nov 16, 2017

2017 H.E.A.T. Shirt Order2017 Design

We are pleased to announce that this year's shirt design has arrived! While it is very much in theme with shirts from previous years, the new design incorporates new, detailed elements of significance to our crew.

Shirts are $15, but H.E.A.T. members (who have paid this year's dues) will get their first shirt for $5.

Nov 7, 2017

Prosthetic Progress Update

a brief video spot about Emma's "robot hand"

Nov 4, 2017

VEX is Back and We're Still Winningsmall crew, big win
A new season has finally begun in Arkansas. This year's game - VEX In the Zone. In all honesty, it was a rough day. Bryant High School brought only one bot to this year's opening bout, and the protoype-ish machine had several issues throughout the day. A misplaced design notebook also excluded the solo team from any judged awards. Zelos, this year's first build, had to win the tournament if BHS was to come home with hardware... and win they did.

As of the time of this writing, the robot has already received several upgrades and redesigns that should make it much more capable in next weekend's competition. We'll make it happen.

Oct 13, 2017

Emma's Prosthetic DeliveredOur first prototype seems to be to Emma's liking.

The big day has come. We've delivered a functional prototype to Emma. There are still improvements to make, but a second iteration is already in the works. The second is expected to have a finer finish, smoother motion, and further improved gripping ability.

This has been a great opportunity for our student team to explore their interests, learn very real world skills, and help others within our community. This is just one example of our efforts to demonstrate just what STEM education should look like in a modern world. The team is already working to develop improvements for this prosthetic application and beginning research on a related, but still more complicated opportunity within our district.

Oct 13, 2017

Homecoming Victory!a still image of this year's board - it totally moves though

It's been three years in the works, but Hornet Engineering has finally snagged the win in the Bryant High School Homecoming Billboard Competition. This year's theme was Rock Around the Clock - the 50's. We feel that we rocked it, indeed. The board featured CNC carved and engraved components, with a dancing Archie & Betty, a travelling '58 Corvette, spinning rockets over the end of the "Rocket Diner," and an accelerated motion clock. All of this was back-lit by color changing LEDs for an extra element of cool. It was certainly our best board to date and we're quite pleased with our long-awaited win.

Year one, we did a revolutionary multi-layer board with lit Tokyo sky and three Arduino microcontrollers running RGB LED matrices, but we arrived minutes too late to be judged. Year two, we pushed our multi-layer concepts further and introduced motion for an Old Hollywood Sci-Fi feel, landing a second place finish. Third time's the charm?

lo-res video of movement

Oct 9, 2017

Advances in Prosthetic Projecttest fitting a partially constructed device for fit/scale
A couple weeks ago, Hornet Engineering was contacted in hopes that we could help a Springhill Elementary student with a unique challenge. Emma is a kindergartner, and we hope to construct a functional prosthetic to allow use of her left hand.

She's a great candidate for a wrist-articulated device and we're confident that we should be able to size and 3-D print a suitable prosthetic hand for her. 3-D printing is an encouraging option for a young child, as traditional prosthetics can cost thousands; and it's tough to keep a fast-growing girl fitted. Using 3-D printing, we find a suitable model, print, and simply rescale/reprint over and over as she grows. Entirely too cool.

We look forward to moving forward with this project; improving life for Emma and giving a real-world challenge to our engineering students - Making it happen for real.

Oct 6, 2017

N.E.S.T.N.E.S.T. held its second meeting today.

Network Engineering Security and Telecom - This is important, so we're making a great first effort to move into this ever-growing, critical field. We hear about security breaches on a near-daily basis in our modern world. Some with serious consequences. It just makes sense that we should be steering some of our students into this high-demand industry. It seemed like no one was talking about this at the secondary level... so we started talking about it.

Led by Alex Morris (BPSD Systems Administrator), these students will learn about network security and online safety while building and attacking virtual servers in a controlled environment. Too cool.

Oct 5, 2017

Live PC Delivered!PC lives!

Not quite a month ago, the Arkansas Sheriff's Association delivered two inoperable robot cars to Hornet Engineering in hopes that we might be able to revive at least one of the beloved patrol cars and get them back into elementary classrooms all across Arkansas.

We're proud to report that we have returned the first operational PC to service! We also swapped body shells on the cars to get the better looking body on the freshly operational machine, resulting in the assembly seen in the photo above.
The next plan of action is to bring the second PC back into service, likely using modern, affordable, open-source solutions to revitalize the older machine and perhaps add to its original capabilities. This should be fun.

Five years, four boats and lots of wins later - Bryant Hornet Engineering is still racing on the pond here at Bishop Park. We've taken this fun event and turned it into a real-world engineering design challenge. Each year, we've improved our designs and construction techniques to become the fastest on the water.

The rules are pretty simple - up to two people, duct tape, and PVC. Paddle from the starting line, around a buoy, and back. Fast. That's pretty much it, and we've gotten pretty good at it.
This year, we raced three boats in two divisions - Last year's champion, "Fury," returned for another win while previous winner, "Triumph," and a heavily-modified "Mamba" competed alongside. Fury took adult and youth divisions this year, while another competitor snatched "Most Creative."another win on the water for Hornet Engineering Racing

We're gonna need some new competition... looking at you Benton.. Bauxite.

Sept 25, 2017

VEX Robotics Competition Field Elevation ProjectIt's one of our larger builds, for certain.

Sept 22, 2017

Springhill Elementary Fall Festival

Sept 19, 2017

Girls in STEM Night

Sept 13, 2017

PC Arrives"PC" has been visiting elementary schools around AR for over 20 years.

We recently received a call from the Arkansas Sheriff's Association, asking if our robotics program could help them revive one or more of their robotic patrol cars. We told them we'd love to give it a shot, and two "PCs" arrived today. The two cars are both down with unknown issues at the moment, but we're confident we can get at least one of the almost 30-year-old vehicles going again.
These remote controlled vehicles have on-board systems enabling PC to drive around, blink, wink, flash rooftop and headlights, look around, talk, play sounds, and more. The cars visit elementary schools to talk to students about safety and saying no to drugs.
The PC Project is going to be picked up by one of our engineering senior design groups with some support from H.E.A.T as needed. Stay tuned for more updates!

Aug 31, 2017

Our AP Lazer Arrives!Hornet Engineering students outside for the arrival

A laser has been on our wishlist for years. Now, it has finally happened. We took delivery of our AP Lazer 1812 today.
While this economical model has a small-ish work area, it has a party trick - it has a removable bottom. This means that while the print area is limited, the size of the object we print on is totally unlimited. Too cool. We're very excited to learn more about it and put it to work.

our latest addition to the Hornet Engineering Center's shop

Aug 25, 2017

Club Fair 2017The H.E.A.T. booth is as impressive as ever.

Every year, student organizations and clubs set up to recruit new members. The H.E.A.T. booth always stands out a bit. What can we say? We do cool stuff.
The organization has grown significantly since its inception in 2013. Last year, we had almost 100 contracted members. It takes a lot to make all of this happen.

Aug 14, 2017

Make It Happen... AgainThe Hornet Engineering Center is set and ready for another year of awesome.

The first day of school is here again. It's going to be another year of long hours and hard work, but a lot of amazing should result.
Make it happen.

Aug 11, 2017

It's Going to be a Big Year. Be a Part of it.

H.E.A.T.(Hornet Engineering and Technology) is the student organization of Bryant Hornet Engineering. We operate throughout the Bryant Public School District to offer our students a STEM experience unlike any other in the state.

In this video, a group of this year's H.E.A.T. officers hike Pinnacle Mountain just before sunrise to watch the spectacle and prepare for a big year.
CEO - Dhyan Thacker
XO - Frankie Martinez
CRO - Zack Curry
CFO - Kayla Vaughan

Global Ties is an organization committed to forming international relationships between government, nonprofit, business, and education leaders around the planet in hopes of solving shared global problems. This particular exchange group traveled from Israel and the Palestinian Territories to observe innovative education strategies here, in the US. Bryant Hornet Engineering was one of their stops. While touring our Engineering Center, students explained projects, their day-to-day studies, and how our PLTW-based program has impacted them. Our staff interacted with the group, discussing the challenges and opportunities that face modern educators who want to evolve education into something more suiting the 21st century.

We were very happy to play host to such a great group and fantastic cause.

July 17, 2017

Summer Robotics Camp Success!Hornet Engineering hosted more than 60 students in two camps

It finally happened! Hornet Engineering hosted its first summer robotics camps, and they were a great success! Elementary and middle schools students participated in one or both of two distinct camps - VEX Mix and Automaton.
In Camp VEX Mix, younger students constructed a "clawbot" following instructions, made modifications and competed in an original, driver-controlled, VEX-themed game.
In Camp Automaton, older students learned how to utilize sensors and coding to develop autonomous routines, completing challenges set out for them.

It was a great time for all involved. HUGE Thanks to Garver for their support and to our H.E.A.T. volunteers for putting in so much time to make this happen!

Autodesk Inventor Certifications
Since the fall of 2012, Hornet Engineering has led our intro classes through advanced instruction in Autodesk Inventor (an industry-standard CAD program brought to you by the people who now own AutoCAD). Over 200 students have earned certifications with us, and now, our newest Hornet Engineering instructor, Joanna Ritchie, has trained another year's worth of certified students. 67 students passed the exam to become Autodesk Inventor Certified Users. Definitely one of our largest groups to date. Congrats!

We've been asked for years, "Is Bryant hosting a robotics camp this summer?" Now, thanks to support from Garver, Bryant Hornet Engineering is hosting our very first robotics camps! Two camps will run through the week for students going into 4th-8th grade. These camps are designed to introduce students to the VEX EDR platform. In the first, Camp VEX Mix, students will construct a basic robot for a driver-controlled tournament at the conclusion of the camp. The second camp, Camp Automaton, will work with sensor-loaded robots to delve deeper into coding for a much more automated challenge. It's going to be a great time!

While we're at it, we plan to host two Competition (VRC) Workshops. We hope to host competitive teams from all over the state for two afternoons of robot-talk, discussing robot design/construction, programming, and this year's game - VEX In the Zone.

2017 Arkansas EV RallyNumber 29 lines up for another go at the autocross track

Our third visit to the Arkansas EV Rally (as Bryant Hornet Engineering) began in drizzling rain. In our first event, the Acceleration challenge, two of our lightweight female drivers led the charge, knocking down competitive times (despite braking for a dog that dashed across the track... seriously). The Autocross event followed, with our veteran driver at the wheel. The course proved to be too tight for our kart model's turning circle, so the first lap time did little to better our chances. The course was adjusted for our second lap, allowing us to log a decent time. On the final lap, our driver was set to snare his best time yet, but both drive chains hopped off their sprockets, leaving the vehicle dead in the final stretch.

Quiz Bowl and Troubleshooting challenges were up next. Despite AP Physics answers being judged incorrect on a couple questions, Bryant won our first podium in Quiz Bowl. Several hours later, torrential rain arrived on the site, raining out the event we've historically performed best in - the Range event. Our wet and muddied kart was brought back to the Hornet Engineering Center and we'll see what we can do to improve for next year's event.

3rd Place in Quiz Bowl

May 9, 2017

Hornet Engineering at Bryant Cultural FairHornet Engineering set up a great display, as always.

Collegeville Elementary hosted a district-wide cultural fair to celebrate the cultural diversity of our district and bringing a taste of the world to our students and community. Hornet Engineering was asked to set up a robotics and general STEM display to add to the festivities. Over 600 people attended, and we had a good time meeting everyone over robots, air cannons, and tamales.

The Bryant Rotary Club held a "Duck Derby" at Bryant's Mills Park this Saturday. The event revolved around the release of 5,000 rubber ducks down an artificial river. The rubber quackers have a number underneath and the first ones to cross the line win their adoptive owners a prize. It's a pretty fun idea, right? Anyway, Hornet Engineering was asked to set up a booth at the event to share our robots and other goodies with the community. We had a good time, sold some Halos, and appreciated the invite.

May 3, 2017

Hornet Engineering Starts Early

a Bryant Elementary kindergarten class engaged in STEM

Here's another glimpse into a PLTW Launch lesson at Bryant Elementary School. We're thrilled to be offering innovative, STEM-driven curriculum at this level, and look forward to big moves furthering implementation of this instruction throughout all of our elementaries in the coming years.

Every student deserves strong STEM exposure at an early age, before girls and other underrepresented groups are convinced that "STEM just isn't for them." This is how we close the STEM gaps and offer equal-opportunity to the better-paying, high-demand jobs that come with strong STEM skills.

April 24, 2017

The 2016-2017 VEX Season is Overthe 2016-2017 hardware haul

VEX Startstruck has run its course. Our Hornet Engineering bots fought their way though 8 regional tournaments, the State Championship, and finally the VEX World Championship; winning 3 World Championship Awards and ending their journey in the World Championship Division Semi-Finals. It was an amazing, unprecedented run for Hornet Engineering. We just keep getting stronger and we're excited to be taking on bigger challenges each year.

Speaking of bigger challenges, here's the 2017-2018 VEX Robotics Game - In the Zone -

April 20, 2017

Hornet Engineering Arrives at VEX Worlds 2017

We're at it again.

BHE presently has 4 teams (three high school, one middle school) at the VEX Robotics World Championship! We've never brought so many teams and so many kids. It's shaping up to be a great experience for our crews. Throughout the World Championship, Louisville will play host to 1,400 teams from over 30 countries. These are the best of the best of 18,000 registered VEX teams that participate all over the planet. We count ourselves privileged to play alongside them in this year's event.
Stay tuned for updates as we keep running wide open through the big game. Tomorrow, we'll finish up qualification rounds, attend the finals, get our first look at next year's game, and end the day with a VEX Team party at Kentucky Kingdom. It's gonna be a big day.

April 17, 2017

BHE Leaves Wednesday for 5th World Championship Appearance

a quick look at a big season

April 8, 2017

Aerospace Engineering Students Fly AgainOur fourth year was a great one.

Four years ago, Hornet Engineering introduced a new course to our catalog - PLTW's Aerospace Engineering. In this course, students begin with the physics of flight, moving on to flight mechanics, flight control, navigation, and classroom flight simulators. It just makes sense that the next step should be to get our students into real aircraft and let them get their hands on a yoke actuating real control surfaces. Flying is what it's all about after all, right?

This year, the Central Arkansas Flying Club helped us out, getting our students off the ground at our very own, local Saline County Regional Airport. It was a great experience for our students, and is a great example of all we do here to give our students exceptional real-world experiences.

Now that they've mastered our atmosphere (even beyond 100,000'), it's on to studies in rockets, space propulsion, and orbital mechanics. We love this course.

April 6, 2017

Hornet Engineering Works With Theater Again for a Big Hit

our second big collaboration with theater

Two years ago, Hornet Engineering was contracted by our high school theater department to construct an 18' powered turntable for their production of Les Miserables. This year, we were called upon again to take on a new set of challenges for their production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. We were asked to create the "magic mirror," used by the beast and Belle to see events that take place elsewhere in their storybook world, as well as Maurice's "invention."

The video above gives a short glimpse at our interpretation of "the invention." While the the 2015 turntable was an impressive feat because of is enormity, this is perhaps more impressive, in our opinion. It's certainly more complicated, with three independent power systems supplying power to the "choo-choo" driven wood ax, the 750W fog machine that pumps smoke from the smokestack, and the self-driven, zero-turn vehicle itself. It was ambitious, to say the least.

This was a big departure from the turntable, which only had to "work." This needed to "work" and "look fun." We really enjoyed this opportunity to show a more artistic creativity in function with form. Hornet Engineering has always taken pride in projects that not only "work," but "look good," too; and this is a overt example of our effort to put an, "A" in "STEAM."

April 3, 2017

Girls in STEM NightThe Athena Girls were a big attraction at the event.
There's a lot of buzz around girls in STEM right now, and for good reason. Generally speaking, females are underrepresented in STEM fields of study and careers. While there are a few schools of thought on why this trend persists, Hornet Engineering is making great efforts to bring more and more girls into our program and keep them engaged in these high demand studies, building the skill sets and experience to represent women in great-paying jobs that are only further permeating our future.

Our World Championship-bound, all-girl robotics team made an appearance at Bryant's first Girls in STEM night, bringing their robot, Athena, and all sorts of other Hornet Engineering technology with them. The Athena girls were able to share their work with girls of all ages from all over the Bryant School District. Girls can do it, and our Hornet Engineering girls are excellent examples.

Hornet Engineering's next move to better engage girls in STEM is in the works, and it largely involves better engagement at the elementary and middle school levels. There is a great deal of research presently suggesting that the window between 3-7th grade is where we lose many of our underrepresented groups. Our hope is that by increasing our contact with these ages, we might keep more students interested in STEM and on the path to procure great jobs that don't even exist yet. Make it happen.

As a Career Tech Education program, our engineering department is required to participate in a state Career Tech Student Organization. Hornet Engineering has fulfilled this requirement with membership in TSA - a quarter-million student, nation-wide STEM student organization. Our state conference consisted largely of competitive events where Hornet Engineering took on the top TSA teams from all over the state in roughly a dozen events, from CO2 Dragsters and VEX Robotics, to Extemporaneous Speech and Transportation Design.

Our students also ran for state office. As we've reported on our site in the past, through the 2016-2017 school year, Hornet Engineering held 3 of 5 state offices. We're glad to report that we now hold 5 of 6 state offices for the 2017-2018 school year. Big day.

H.E.A.T. Out and AboutBHS H.E.A.T. members share with students at Davis Elementary

Bryant Hornet Engineering is a multi-campus department. We have programs not only at the high school, but at Bryant Middle, Bethel Middle, Bryant Elementary, and Collegeville Elementary. We understand that the future of our program, and the Bryant School District will depend on exciting and preparing these elementary students for STEM studies. Research has widely shown that students typically decide if they're "good at" or "like" math and science somewhere between 3-6th grade. This is where we lose so many students. This is where we lose the girls. This is where we lose much of our diversity.

To fight back, we try to take every opportunity to tell elementary students about our program, the fun we have, and importance of science and math in their future. We genuinely believe that inspiring students early is the key to building the best STEM program in the state. In the coming year(s), we will be working to improve our connection at the elementary levels and offer students more and more exposure to the wonders and opportunities of STEM fields.

Just before their State Championship, the Athena girls chatted with Channel 4 about Athena and what it means to be an all-girl robotics team. It's a really great clip, and you should check it out HERE.

Mar 6, 2017

World-Boundwrapping up a crazy day

No matter how strong a season we have, State is always a tough day. Phobos, Athena, and Deimos all went into the ATU arena ready to fight it out with the top 33 of Arkansas' 111 VRC teams.

The day opened with a disappointing, questionable, and contested loss for Phobos; only his 3rd in Arkansas, this certainly cast a shadow over the rest of the day. Athena found herself in one of the toughest schedules of the day, but survived as the only undefeated, 6-0 machine at the end of qualifying rounds. Deimos continued his "high-hanging" streak, winning all but one of his qualifying matches.

Alliance selection landed all three BHS teams in the top two seeds - Athena and Phobos in the number one spot, while Deimos teamed up with a number two Har-Ber team. The two alliances fought through their respective brackets to land each of them in the finals, head-to-head. Along the way, Phobos racked up his 100th match win of the season. This is unprecedented for an Arkansas bot, and a truly remarkable feat. Both BHS alliances made it to the finals, ensuring World Championship qualification for all three BHS teams.

In the finals, Phobos and Athena both experienced crippling mechanical failures. Phobos snapped a main drive axle, leaving him immobilized, and Athena had an intake roller pulled off by an opposing robot, rendering her unable to pick up game objects. As a result, the number one alliance lost the first match, but this was a win for BHS's Deimos across the field. All good. Athena replaced her intake roller and played the second match, while her brother, Phobos, was repaired. Whatever hard luck Phobos found was transferred to Athena; her drive failed less than half-way through the second match, leaving her second partner to fend for himself. The Phobos-Athena ultimate alliance lost finals due to some seriously bad luck.

However, there were few sore feelings. Deimos finished as a Tournament Champion, and all of our BHS teams celebrated with him. It was a unexpected underdog win, and satisfactory ending to a long, tough day.

We'll tell you more later... right now, we're headed for bed. Made it happen.

Mar 3, 2017

International VEX Robotics Online Challenge Runner-Up!

Hornet Engineering's 2nd place winning entry

The FUTURE Foundation's Robot Construction Challenge is part of the 2017 VEX World Championship Online Challenges. The task - "Design a robot that can provide companionship, assist with simple tasks, and could be integrated into a home environment of the future." A small group of Hornet Engineers responded with the design and construction of J33V3S. This a big accomplishment for an Arkansas team in competition with teams from all over the planet.

While 2nd doesn't win a spot at Worlds for our teams, it does come with a $500 VEX-credit prize. Hornet Engineering will be fighting for the right to represent Arkansas in the World Championship at tomorrow's State Tournament. Make it happen.

Feb 25, 2017

Bryant Hits the North West Arkansas Regional VEX TournamentBryant wrapped up a perfect regular season in Bentonville.

BHS H.E.A.T. put in a long Saturday, travelling to and from Bentonville High School, wrapping up an undefeated run through the regular season. Phobos came into the competition with a score to settle, finishing qualification rounds as the number one qualifier, winning the tournament, repeating a Skills Champion win, and snagging his fourth Excellence Award.

Deimos was a whole new machine, finishing third in skills, winning his second Tournament Champion Award (allied with Phobos) and executing 8 flawless "high-hangs" throughout the competition - every match Deimos played. Athena had a good day, winning every match until meeting Phobos and Deimos in the finals.

All three teams will compete in the State Championship on March 4th, having demonstrated themselves to be three of the top 'bots in the state. Make it Happen.

Feb 24, 2017

Summer Opportunities 2017
Check out our Summer Opportunities page for info on summer camps and other opportunities around the state.
Keep eyes open for a possible robotics camp to be hosted by Bryant Hornet Engineering. We're working on it.

The girls have done it. Team Athena has won their first tournament; edging out the fearsome, undefeated Phobos for a win in the finals at the Monticello Challenge Regional VEX Tournament and snatching their second Excellence Award along the way.

It was a big weekend for other Bryant teams as well, with BMS team 1338G joining Athena as Tournament Champions, BMS team 1338B winning MS Excellence, and Phobos again securing Skills Champion and another Design Award to add to the scorecard.

Feb, 11 2017

Byant Sweeps at UAMHornet Engineering celebrates another win.

Saturday, Hornet Engineering carried five teams (3 BHS, 2 BMS) to UAM for a 30+ team robotics bout. This kicked off four straight weekends of big tournaments, ultimately culminating at the State Championship on March 4th.

Both Athena and Deimos have made great strides since their appearances at the Bryant competition a couple weeks ago. Deimos demonstrated a new hanging capability, while Athena established herself as one of the top robots in the state, keeping up with her brother, Phobos, and posing a very real threat to his record.

Our third stab at the edge of space was our greatest success yet. Aether III was released at 1:00, traveled to an ultimate altitude of 107,820', hit horizontal speeds in excess of 120mph, observed temperatures below -60 degrees Fahrenheit, and covered a straight-line distance of 79 miles in just under two hours. It was a crazy ride.

footage samples from Aether III's downfiring GoPro

Tracking worked beautifully, allowing students, parents and friends throughout the school district and beyond to track Aether III in real-time online. The primary APRS unit sent signals just seconds after release and continued to reliably track until ~2,000' on its re-entry. From this point, the secondary, satellite-based-communication system allowed the recovery team to drive within 50' of the safely landed capsule.

We'll soon be sharing more information about the latest of our Aether missions, but until then, feel welcome to the data collected by Aether III 's flight computer! We'd love to hear how you put it to use in your classrooms!Aether III Flight Data

Technology Student Association is a nation-wide Career Tech Student Organization specializing in STEM studies. Hornet Engineering naturally has a strong presence in the organization, holding several officer positions - Katlee Freasier (Vice-President), Stuti Chatterjee (Secretary and Reporter), and Kaitlyn Baldwin (Sargent at Arms). The state officers were invited to an event at the State Capitol where they were introduced to Governor Asa Hutchinson. The girls had prepared a special gift for the Governor - a fully customized H.E.A.T. Halo embossed "ASA" with an Arkansas Flag on the center cap. He spun the Halo, and laughed, "That's pretty cool!"

Jan 31, 2017

Aether III Launch Date is Set!Aether III has clearance for launch (weather permitting) this Friday, February 3 at 1:00 in the afternoon. Final preparations are being made to ensure that this, our third go at the edge of space, is a successful mission. "Everything's looking good," said the mission's camera specialist. "This is going to be too cool."

Aether III will have a view unlike any vehicle to date, and to better our chances of recovery, carries an updated APRS unit and a secondary, totally independent, satellite-based tracking system.

Spectators are welcome to watch liftoff (on the field behind the Hornet Engineering Center) and encouraged to watch the vehicle's progress across Arkansas and on to 100,000' by visiting www.aprs.fi and watching callsign KF5OUQ. Godspeed, Aether III.

Jan 28, 2017

Hornet Engineering Hosts VEX TournamentAthena and Phobos battle it out in the finals.

Saturday, thirty-nine VEX Robotics teams met at the Bryant Middle School gym for the largest event of the season thus far. Teams came from all over Arkansas to compete for awards, the win, and State Tournament qualifications.

Hornet Engineering fielded seven teams total - 3 BHS, 2 BMS, and 2 BeMS - sending 5 of them through qualification rounds and into the elimination bracket. Our all-girl Athena crew performed quite well in their first outing, spending much of the day in the number one spot and ultimately landing in the first seed alliance alongside a Jonesboro machine and another freshly completed BHS 'bot - Deimos.

Phobos ran one more undefeated day, setting yet another Arkansas state record Skills score along the way; however, a missed autonomous opportunity cost them the number one qualifier spot. The veteran BHS squad allied with another team from Jonesboro and a first-year NEATC unit, landing head-to-head against Athena and Deimos in the finals. Phobos edged out his brother and sister teams for the final win. It was a big day.

H.E.A.T. Halos are HereHalos are designed and built in house by H.E.A.T.

Without a doubt, the coolest fund-raising endeavor we've ever seen, H.E.A.T. Halos are getting a lot of buzz around the BHS campus and beyond. Based on the internet's "fidget spinner" trend, H.E.A.T. is producing custom designs in house at a great price.

For those who are unfamiliar with the "fidget" movement, these devices are ideal for the pen clickers, pencil tappers, and key ring spinners among us; giving these people a silent and stylish outlet for restless fingers. They can be customized for customers in all sorts of colors, configurations, and cap types, with new designs arriving weekly.

NELA VEX Tournament
A small crew of H.E.A.T. members rolled into Delhi, LA this weekend for a VEX Robotics Tournament. The team was glad to see friends from earlier in the season again, as well as making new ones. Our team performed well, going undefeated throughout the day and scoring a respectable skills score that landed them a global ranking of 101 (our highest ranking to date and not too shabby out of 7000+ teams worldwide).

Ultimately, the team came home Tournament Champions, Excellence Award winners, Skills Champions, and number 1 qualifiers. Making it happen.

Jan 20, 2017

Aether III Preps for February LaunchAether III is smaller, lighter, and filled with more advanced tech than its predecessors

The Hornet Engineering Center has been a very busy place this year, with more projects running simultaneously than ever before. Aether III has been in the works since September, but we're just now putting on the finishing touches and beginning to zero in on a launch date. Aether III is expected to be a significant improvement over the first and second attempts in the Aether Project. Aether II was an immensely complex system of older technologies and ultimately experienced what we believe to have been some sort of electrical failure in May of 2015. Aether III's more modern systems have been integrated in such a way as to reduce the likelihood of such failures, while saving weight and simplifying preparations on launch day.

Hornet Engineering's Aerospace course has spearheaded the project with additional support from H.E.A.T. and students are running flight path predictions for a launch in early February. We'll make some noise when we're ready. In the mean-time, check out the Aether mini-site for more information on Aether III and its evolution.

Jan 3, 2017

Support the Athena Girls!
Our new, all-girl robotics team needs some help procuring their own equipment to build and run Athena in upcoming competitions. If you'd like to help out, visit our donorschoose page or contact jdwilliams@bryantschools.org

Dec 14, 2016

Project "Athena"BHS HEAT's first all-girl team is ready to "make it happen."

Bryant's next powerhouse team is going to be run by the women. For the first time, an all-girl crew will build, code, and pilot a 5691 robot in VEX competition. Bryant has had a strong season in Starstruck competition so far, and the girls are ready to make a statement; taking Bryant's "Phobos" platform a step further with an all-new sister, "Athena." Get ready, because these girls are going to bring it.

“Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree” was the theme for this year's annual Bryant Lighted Christmas Parade, sponsored by Landers Auto of Saline County, on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. on Reynolds Road in Bryant.
BMS H.E.A.T. constructed a float that featured large and small Christmas trees spinning on a giant record. Christmas rock music of the era pumped from a giant 8x4' jukebox at the front of the float. BMS engineering students dressed in 50's attire and had a great time throughout the trip down Reynolds Road.

Dec 7-8, 2016

PLTW State Conference
All six of Bryant's PLTW teachers (2 BHS, BMS, BeMS, BES, CES) were able to attend this year's two-day conference, held at Pulaski Technical College. Bryant teachers attended and led informative sessions on the latest developments and strategies for delivering the finest possible STEM experience for students K-12. It was a great opportunity to learn, be encouraged, and focus on ways to improve Bryant Hornet Engineering from the ground up. This group of exceptional educators is set and ready to offer students in our district more and ever higher quality STEM opportunities as we beginning planning for next year and the years that follow. Great things are coming.Bryant received recognition at the conference as one of two Arkansas "PLTW Showcase School" districts for 2016.

Dec 3, 2016

Arkansas State University VEX Tournamentthe winning alliance

The state's second regional tournament was held Saturday and hosted by Arkansas State University. Twenty-five teams from around the state competed for State-Tournament qualification spots in a big day of competition. Hornet Engineering entered only one robot (as construction of the second had fallen behind schedule), but still managed to retain a strong presence among competitors, finishing qualifying rounds in the number one spot. An alliance formed with Jonesboro and Sylvan Hills then fought through elimination rounds for the Tournament Champion trophies (pictured above). The H.E.A.T. crew also secured awards for Excellence and holding the top scores in Robot Skills competition. It was a great way to finish out 2016, but there's still a lot of season left in 2017. Make it happen.

Nov 18, 2016

Verizon App Challenge 2016

Hornet Engineering's entry video

We always have a lot going on at H.E.A.T. meets. While we are pretty good about going public with our projects upon completion, there are always multiple projects (often a dozen or more) running simultaneously. A great example is our first entry in the annual Verizon App Challenge. A small team of H.E.A.T. members have been working on this submission for some time, developing their concept, writing their reports, and ultimately spending the last week shooting video for their entry. Lots of of cool things happening here... and often all at once.

Nov 12, 2016

The Arkansas VEX Season Beginsa great start to the season

H.E.A.T. kicked off the Arkansas season in a big way at the first State Championship qualifier, triple-qualifying with our latest beast of a robot - "Phobos". Bryant was represented by two teams from Bryant Middle and two more from Bryant High School among a field of 24 robots from across the state.

The event was a great day of competition, with each team playing 8 qualifying matches on the way to alliance selection and elimination rounds. Bryant High School's "Phobos" (wearing 5691W plates) finished qualifying rounds as the number one qualifier, selecting teams from Har-Ber and Russellville High Schools as alliance partners. After an undefeated run through elimination rounds, Bryant teams accepted additional awards, securing spots for the Arkansas State Championship to be held at Arkansas Tech March 4, 2017.

Great thanks to our hosts for holding such a smooth competition, and we look forward to the remaining season with all of our outstanding Arkansas teams!

Each year, Bryant High School clubs participate in a Homecoming Billboard competition, put on by our Student Senate. The boards are to be designed around a central homecoming theme (selected by the Student Senate) and are used to decorate the field and homecoming dance.

Last year, H.E.A.T. produced a revolutionary board, but arrived too late to be judged. This year, the engineering student organization decided to hit this contest harder still, introducing still more crazy to our entry than ever.

This year's theme - "Night at the Premiere - Old Hollywood" with accents of red and gold.

We immediately thought old hollywood sci-fi would really work well for us, incorporating our tech to paint a neo-retro future sci-fi B-movie poster - barrel robots with flashy lights and tubular arms, bold text in wild colors, and attacks from other realms! Done.

We then thought about how far we could push this competition. What could a Homecoming Billboard really be? Why stop at paint on a flat, rectangular sheet of plywood? We can do more.

Our LED matrices were brought back into service with more powerful Raspberry Pi programming, still more layers were added to the board with hard-wired tricolor LED strip backlighting, and we introduced something entirely new - micro-controller based movement.

The objective was to build the most outrageous, thinking-outside-of-the-box board ever seen in this competition. We think we succeeded.

We called on our membership, compiling their skills for a common goal. Dozens of students contributed in big ways, bringing their specialized abilities and learning new ones to bring this wild idea into reality; and on a all-new, much-improved easel we also completed in house.

H.E.A.T. totally changed the game, and came in second.

Nov 5, 2016

Starstrucktri-state alliance

Saturday, a small crew of Hornet Engineers rolled into Ridgeland, Mississippi for their first VEX Starstruck competition. It was a great day of new competitors and amazing robots.

Bryant's 'bot, "Phobos" was completed only hours before the competition and struggled with bugs in its first two qualifying rounds. The issue was found and performance greatly improved through the remaining qualifying rounds, landing the crew at the number 9 spot going into elimination rounds. Hornet Engineering teamed up with Mississippi and Louisiana robots, taking a tri-state alliance through the finals to Tournament Champion Awards. Hornet Engineering also brought home our first Judges Award.

We want to express immense thanks to our hosts for a great competition, and we very much enjoyed getting to meet so many new teams. We look forward to seeing you around the circuit again!

Oct 28, 2016

Bryant Middle School Windmill Project

"Each year, I have the students do a project on a real life subject and use the skills they have learned to create the projects. We usually do a space telescope, but this semester we did our projects on windmills. The students were to build a windmill, or design a windmill on Autodesk Inventor. A completed windmill must spin when exposed to moving air (provided by a fan). Blade orientation is important. The kids researched, drew, built, and tested their projects. I filmed the projects to show the turbines in working order and made a small video to demonstrate their results." - Jason Price (Hornet Engineering - Bryant Middle School)

Oct 19, 2016

2016 Homecoming BillboardWe took this year's competition to an entirely new level.

The theme for 2016 homecoming decorations is "Night at the Premiere" with an "old Hollywood" feel. We immediately reached for old-school Hollywood science-fiction, ultimately arriving at our "Attack from Beyond!" design.

This board features similar RGB LED matrix usage to last year, but rather than using multiple, somewhat under-powered Arduinos we used on the previous board, a single Raspberry Pi was utilized, allowing cascading text and images to pass from one panel to the next; very cool. Another new element we've introduced this year was movement - the robot's arms moved independently as film reels on the camera turned, capturing the star robot's motion. Some features were not new to us - multi-layer, cut designs to introduce a sense of depth and RGB LED lighting of the sunset and the robot's polycarbonate "brain case."

H.E.A.T. has made a great time of this annual project by simply asking ourselves, "What can a homecoming board be?" and "How far can we push this?" We feel this is a great indicator of our developing H.E.A.T. culture. Great thanks to the Student Senate and the others who put on this fun competition.

Stay tuned for results!

Sept 27, 2016

Duct Tape Boat Race 2016 - Video

a look at Hornet Engineering's latest work on the water

Sept 24, 2016

Duct Tape Boat Race 2016H.E.A.T. members celebrate their wins

This is Hornet Engineering's fourth season of Duct Tape Boat racing, and we like to think we've learned a lot. We've developed our boat design significantly and keep building faster and faster craft. The crew took on more work this year than ever, building our fastest boat yet - Fury - and re-wrapping/modifying our original boat - Mamba. The resurrected Mamba 2.0 sported an all new hand-cranked paddle-wheel system and fresh tape in its fourth appearance at this event. Fury is a stripped down, super-lightweight redesign of last year's champion - Triumph. All three boats raced this year.

winners pose with their hard-won ducks

Mamba 2.0 won the Most Creative Award, Triumph won the Youth Division for the second year in a row, and Fury captured the Adult Division in its first outing. It's a great start for Hornet Engineering's Racing Division and another successful project for H.E.A.T. as a whole.

Each year, Hornet Engineering has added to its arsenal of t-shirt (and other ball-game-goody) propelling armaments. In 2012, it was a catapult and trebuchet; in 2013, it was our first gen (Mk I) air cannon, followed closely by Mk II prototypes; in 2014, we released the king of them all - the Mk III "Hornet Howitzer"; in 2015, we built the "Spirit Series" Mk II handhelds; and now in 2016, we've constructed the mid-compact, double-barreled Mk II. This latest addition looks like something pulled from the screen of a video game. With two shortened barrels slung under a forward, top-mounted handle and its over-sized pistol grip with dual triggers, it is certainly a mean-looking thing.

Unfortunately, the cannons weren't welcome at this year's Salt Bowl game. The artillery division made appearances at both the early morning and 1st period pep rallies, delivering t-shirts, cinch sacks, and SWARM towels. H.E.A.T. Artillery crew sways to the alma mater

Aug 29, 2016

Mamba Restoration BeginsH.E.A.T. members "skin" Mamba for restoration and upgrades

If you've seen pictures or watched videos from the Bryant Fall Fest Ken Palmquist Duct Tape Boat Race over the last few years, you've seen Mamba. This boat has competed in Adult and Youth divisions over the last three years, winning two Youth Division titles and one Most Creative award. After three years, tape has loosened and dried, leaving Mamba a little out of shape. Last year, the boat took on more water than we deemed acceptable; but we hate to retire the original Hornet Engineering vessel just yet, so it's going to be receiving a fresh skin as well as significant, experimental upgrades. Stay tuned for more on this project.

a flashback to Mamba's beginnings

Aug 25, 2016

We're back.H.E.A.T. members man our booth at Club Day 2016

H.E.A.T. is back and kicking off the new school year in a big way. This is our biggest Club Fair yet. We brought some of our gear to Building 10, allowing the rest of the student body to get a peek at the crazy we do. Well over a hundred students registered in our system, expressing interest in our ever-growing engineering student organization. The fourth year of H.E.A.T.'s existence is going to be a big one.

Club Day is a great opportunity to share what we do.

May 25, 2016

Autodesk Inventor Certifications
Since the fall of 2012, Mrs. Norris has led her Introduction to Engineering Design classes through advanced instruction in Autodesk Inventor (an industry-standard CAD program brought to you by the people who now own AutoCAD). This year, 45 ninth-graders in her IED course have become Autodesk Inventor certified. This adds up to over 200 Bryant Hornet Engineering students to become certified in Autodesk Inventor over the last four years. Incredible.

May 18, 2016

Welcome to Bryant Arkansas - Brought to You by Hornet Engineering

BMS Engineering teacher Jason Price is all about project based learning. What better project than one serving the community?

When Bryant Middle School 7th grade engineering students discussed a project to serve their hometown the most popular idea involved replacing one of the two "Welcome to Bryant" city signs.

Conversations with City of Bryant Mayor Jill Dabbs, the Bryant Chamber of Commerce and the City Council led to a plan to design and construct a new welcome sign. Mayor Dabbs and the city leadership groups eagerly welcomed the student investment.

Mr. Price provided direction and instruction throughout the two-month process. Students began by purchasing supplies. They measured the area of the sign, cut plywood to specs, and cut 2x4s to frame the back.

After the sign was constructed, painting began. They added a base white, then cut out the letters and painted each Bryant blue. Waterproofing was the last step of construction.

Students installed the sign on May 18. “Welcome to Bryant” is now the greeting seen by thousands each day as they travel I-30 west between the Alexander exit and Raymar overpass.

May 16, 2016

EV Rally 2016 Short Film

perhaps our best video work to date
In this short film, Hornet Engineering students (H.E.A.T. members) tell the audience about the Arkansas Electric Vehicle Rally, what went into bringing their decade-old cart back to the race (for the first time in roughly 8 years), and how everything played out at Number 29's return to the circuit.

Hornet Engineering ultimately won 1st in the Range Event and 3rd in Autocross.
"We'll make it happen, no matter what." - Sunny Harshdeep, H.E.A.T. CEO 2015-2016

While we showed up to show off what our PLTW-based program has been up to in the "Robotics World" (we did bring 4 State Champion robots with us), we had an amazing time just checking out everything that others had been up to. Lots to see and tons of like-minded individuals to converse with. This really is our crowd.

Great thanks to the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and everyone who helped put on this great event! Can't wait until the next one. We'll bring more stuff... once we find a truck. haha

The Arkansas EV (Electric Vehicle) Rally revolves around the use of an electrically-powered go-kart to teach students principles of electric power, renewable energies, transportation design, physics, and more. Our Hornet Engineering students have spent significant hours over the past year preparing our own vehicle for its first appearance at this event in over 7 years.

The day was going very well, feeling we had placed in several events - acceleration, autocross - and had performed competitively in other events - quiz bowl, troubleshooting. Just one lap into the final event of the day - the range event - another team lost control of their vehicle and left the track, injuring several bystanders - mostly our Hornet Engineering crew.

We want to let our Bryant family know that our students were attended to quickly and professionally, all making it home safely Friday night without any broken bones or otherwise serious injury (though several are bandaged up and may be moving a bit more slowly over the coming week).

Once our students were properly cared for, the remaining Hornets decided among themselves to finish the event, ultimately winning first place in the range event and third in autocross with their friends in mind.

Our crew would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and kind words sent to them and their families.

May 4, 2016

How have we not posted this on the site yet?

video reveal of the "Atlas" robot platform
In the world of competitive robotics, "reveal videos" are a way to unveil your team's latest designs to the world. This is special edition of our Atlas platform reveal, introducing not only the original Atlas, but his twin brother, Ares. The robot featured in this video competed in every VEX event in Arkansas, winning multiple awards and ultimately scoring the highest single alliance score in Arkansas at the State Championship. The twin, Ares, was equipped with additional hardware that pulled off the only "high lift" in Arkansas competition, lifting its partner 12" off the mat at the end of the match. The final evolution of the Atlas platform, X-3 Apollo, was released at the State Championship, surpassing both its predecessors in speed, accuracy, and construction. For more information on the the original rendition of this versatile platform, see the engineering design summary.

April 23, 2016

VEX World Championship Award WinnersBHS and BMS HEAT crews at the VEX World Championship

Bryant Hornet Engineering has just returned from their fourth VEX Robotics World Championship. Teams from Bryant Middle School and Bryant High School again represented Arkansas at the largest robotics event ever (a new, official Guinness World Record), competing alongside over 1,000 teams from more than 30 countries. It was a unique experience for our students; allowing them to interact with the best and brightest from all over our planet who are actively honing the abilities and skill-sets needed to shape our tech-driven world in the decades to come. These are the competitive, collaborative problem solvers. This event is like no other.

For the second year in a row, Bryant High School was singled out for an international award - this year, the Sportsmanship Award. To be selected from such an impressive field of global competitors, winning an award like this is a great indicator of Bryant Hornet Engineering presence, attitude, drive, and collaboration.

Bryant teams won the right to attend by winning Tournament Champion and Excellence Awards at the Arkansas State Tournament held at Arkansas Tech University in March. Bryant High School completed the season undefeated with 5 Tournament Champion titles, state scoring records, and other awards to their record.

For those who'd like a more in-depth look, a recap of the event will be aired for the first time on ESPN2 on July 20.

April 22, 2016

2017 VEX Robotics Game Released

VEX Robotics Competition - Startstruck

April 21, 2016

VEX World Championship 2016 - Wednesday and Thursday

This is what the biggest robotics event EVER looks like.

April 19, 2016

VEX World Championship 2016 is Almost Here

four years strong
As the team makes final preparations for their fourth visit to the biggest robotics event on the planet, we looked back over the past seasons and put this video together. It keeps getting bigger. Make it happen.

March 31, 2016

TSA State Conference Results
Arkansas has now held its first State Technology Student Association Conference. (TSA is to engineering programs what FBLA is to business classes or FCCLA is to FACS classes.) 10 Bryant Hornet Engineering students attended and competed with schools from across the state in a variety of events. Bryant Hornet Engineering also put forward several candidates to be Arkansas' first state TSA Officers.
Results -

CO2 Dragster - 1st and 2nd place medals

Promotional Design - 1st place medals

Transportation Modeling - 2nd place medal

Extemporaneous Speech - 2nd place medal

Katlee Freasier - State Vice President

Stuti Chatterjee - State Secretary

Kaitlyn Baldwin - State Sergeant at Arms

March 22, 2016

Bryant Hornet Engineering Presents at PLTW's National SummitThe Summit is Project Lead The Way's national conference
Bryant High School was invited to present a session at this year's PLTW National Summit, and we were all too thrilled to help out. The 2016 Summit was the largest yet and our representative spent five days in Indianapolis, Indiana working with other master teachers, meeting with the movers and shakers, and conducting/attending informative sessions about the goings-on in the ever-growing world of PLTW. Making it happen gets bigger all the time.
If you attended the session and are looking for the support page - Click HERE.

March 5, 2016

2016 State ChampionsBryant High School H.E.A.T. Wins Again
Bryant wrapped up an undefeated season with a win at the 2016 Arkansas Sate Championship, paving the way for a fourth appearance at the VEX World Championship. Teams from Bryant High School, Bryant Middle School, and Bethel Middle School competed in a field of 49 teams to claim the top spots. The charge was led by a ferocious new robot from Bryant Hornet Engineering's Skunkworks Division (5691X), X-3 "Apollo." Piloted by H.E.A.T. CEO, Sunny Harshdeep, Apollo landed the number one qualifier spot against the toughest competition seen in Arkansas, setting the stage for elimination rounds. Five Bryant teams competed in the elimination rounds with three of them ultimately landing in the finals. (We think it's worth mentioning that the fourth team in the finals was largely made up of students who first participated in VEX Robotics at Bryant High School).

BMS teams with their awards
Results -- BHS - Tournament Champion, Sportsmanship Award (our first), Robot Skills Champion, Number 1 Qualifier- BMS - Tournament Champion, Middle School Excellence Award, Number 5 Qualifier- BeMS - Number 13 and 14 qualifiers in their very first time at the State Championship

- Bryant High School 5691B (allied with ASMSA) posted the single highest alliance score of the Arkansas season.
- Bryant High School 5691W achieved the first and only "high lift" in Arkansas competition.

See a (mostly) complete record of Bryant Hornet Engineering's endeavors in VEX Robotics HERE.

Feb 27, 2016

Northwest Arkansas Invitational VEX Tournament ChampionsBHS and BMS teams celebrate a big victory
Just under 40 teams from Arkansas and Oklahoma gathered at Bentonville High School for the largest Arkansas VEX event of the regular season. Bryant High School and Bryant Middle School H.E.A.T. chapters fought tough competition and mild sleep deprivation through a long day of challenging matches. A tie in one of four qualification rounds sentenced defending champion 5691B to 5th in the rankings, but a strong alliance with Southwest Junior High and Bryant Middle School battled the top seeds for the ultimate win. Bryant Middle School also snared the Excellence Award over a field of strong competitors. The teams are now working to further improve their robots for one last bout at the Arkansas State Championship, held at Arkansas Tech University on March 5th. Make it happen.

International Finalists!
For VEX Worlds 2016, Bryant Hornet Engineering entered several online challenges. We're very glad to report that we've been selected as finalists in 2 categories so far - Website and Promote Award. You can see our Website entry at http://robotics.bryantschools.org and here's our Promote Award entry -

Make it happen.

Feb 16, 2016

Bryant Students, Apply Now for Robotics 2017
When filling your schedule for the 2016-2017 school year, consider our new Robotics course! As seats are limited, you must fill out an APPLICATION by March 11 to be considered. This course will utilize the VEX Robotics Curriculum and form the back-bone of Bryant's competitive robotics teams in the 2016-2017 VEX Robotics season. This will be the first time BHE has had a period in the day committed exclusively to robotics, and could be game-changer for us.

UAM VEX Tournament ChampionsAtlas and his new twin brother, Ares
It was a rough day, but Hornet Engineering fought hard and won out. Improvements are already underway to make Atlas and Ares more dangerous in the ring and the latest beast from BHE Skunkworks, X-3, is to be released near the end of the month. Great work to all the teams who competed, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Jan 30, 2016

Aero Students Fly for the Third Year in a Rowstudents back on the ground after their first experience at the yoke of a real aircraft

Jan 13, 2016

New Website Launched!
Bryant Hornet Engineering has operated this site since February of 2013. It has served us well as a hub for sharing our activities with our community and well beyond. Our H.E.A.T. crew has worked hard to keep up the site and fill it with loads of great content; however, it was time for a refresh. Our old Drupal7 site is looking a little tired and has been pushed about as far as we can push it; enter Concrete5. Our new website - robotics.bryantschools.org - was launched as our entry in its corresponding 2016 VEX Robotics World Championship Online Challenge. While we were finalists in last year's competition, we hope our new site will help up place in 2016.
Our original site will remain in operation for a while yet as we restructure and migrate content to the new site.

Held at Arkansas State University,our first VEX Robotics event of the season was a great intro to the 2015-2016 game, Nothing But Net. H.E.A.T. teams from Bryant High School and Bryant Middle School competed with teams from across Arkansas and Mississippi.

While many of our most experienced H.E.A.T. members were unable to attend (ACT testing and All-Region Band tryouts were held on the same Saturday), Bryant had a strong presence throughout the event with BHS team 5691W running throughout the day as the #1 qualifier and BMS team 1338B finishing qualifying rounds at #2. BHS team 5691B had flywheel motor issues throughout the morning, but came back a seriously competitive machine after an emergency lunch-time diagnosis and surgery. Ultimately, 5691W and 1338B formed an alliance while 5691B formed a second alliance with a veteran and Excellence Award winning team from Monticello. Both alliances advanced through elimination rounds to compete in the finals. Of the four teams represented in the finals, three wore H.E.A.T. tees. It was a promising start to what is sure to be an intense season.

Joel Gordon of the AR Regional Innovation Hub discusses S.T.E.A.M. possibilities
We had the privilege of hearing Mr. Gordon speak at the TSA Fall Leadership Conference a while back. Afterwards, he chatted with us about the importance of STEM education and the many possibilities for careers that are somewhat less traditionally thought of as STEM careers. STEM can take students well into the modern realms of art, making a great case for putting an "A" in STEM.

Nov 19, 2015

Shirts Have Arrived!
Our much anticipated H.E.A.T. shirts have come in and we're very pleased to have easily one (actually two) of the coolest organization shirts on campus. The new tees are super-high-quality, arriving in a heathered charcoal and pale pink. Contracted H.E.A.T. members get a discounted price, while non-H.E.A.T. persons may purchase a shirt for $15.

The pinks are going fast, btw.

Nov 11, 2015

The Hornet Engineering Center - A Guided Tour

Take a tour through the home of H.E.A.T.
Built in 1975, Bryant's "Industrial Arts Building" is now forty years old. It has housed PLTW courses since the fall of 2002, but only became an exclusively engineering complex in the fall of 2014.

We've spent the last few years turning the structure into a facility we're proud to call home. Now called the "Hornet Engineering Center," its brick and block walls house a non-stop buzz of activity, research, and learning.

In this video, two of our youngest officers guide you through the Hornet Engineering Center with an active H.E.A.T. work session in progress.

Feel free to schedule an appointment to see the facility and its ever-more-interesting contents by contacting the school.